I just found myself thinking about how I was looking forward to the putative future electronic version of Sentinels of the Multiverse because then if I was uncertain what the resolution would be to some part of the game I could just see how the electronic version handled it. It then occurred to me that it would also be really cool if the putative future electronic version kept a log of the game state such that the log could be loaded in at some point in the future and one could scroll forward and backward in the log and see everything that happened. So, requests:
1) Make the game such that one can specify a game state (decks, cards in hand, cards in play, cards in trash, HP, etc.).
2) Make the game such that there is a log of what happens in the game, that the log is saveable, and that the log is loadable.
3) Make the game such that one can step backwards and forwards through the log of a game.
Are these the most important things for the game? No. Much more important would be making sure that the game is correct, easy to use, and fun to play. Still, the items above would be really cool to have.
It would be really cool to add a little animation to the characters, even in just a motion poster sort of way. In fact I think I would prefer that simpler sort of animation so that it is not so distracting, and keeps the focus on the interaction of the cards rather than aping the old final fantasy combat scenes.
This is great stuff. I love the idea of a log. I play Go, and stepping through professional games was and still is one of my preferred methods for learning and improving.
Myself, I really want cross-platform, asynchronous play. I want this more than anything else.
Secondarily, it would be neat to have a "story mode." Some sort of campaign.
A log would be especially useful for the aformentioned asynch games - maybe something like a rewind button so you can see what the hell your friend playing the Argent just did last turn!
Campaign - brilliant idea. I'd like achievements too, especially as we already have at least some of those already which would be relatively easy to incorporate (I guess).
This reminds me that I'd like to have some kind of control over animation speed with the option of turning off animations altogether. As much as I like all the clever moving stuff, if it slows down my gaming experience I want to be able to just play without all the chrome.
Similarly (and this goes for every single app or game), please please please let me control the sound effects volume seperately from the music volume. I usually listen to the music for about a minute before the looping starts to drive me crazy, but I like the feedback of sound effects like card shuffling noises, etc.
Idk diddly about these kinds of things, but what would be groundbreaking is if there was some way to play with others online. Players could take turns and wait kinda like word with friends or something. Anyone could run the villain and enviro assigning damage I guess. Minor details. Maybe that's way too ambitious a goal, but it's a cool idea.
With an actual electronic version, not a sidekick thing, it wouldn't require a player to control the villain, just players to make choices when needed.
I would honestly prefer that an electronic version never exist. Largely because I hate card games turned electronic. I want to know that there are cards being shuffled. I lose intrest in electronic games like that very quickly, and if everyone stopped playing with cards because it is easier not too I'd be sad and alone and have to go back to talking to imaginary Lions that live in the cupboard. Then my wife would make fun of me.
And I want something portable so I can take my turn while I'm on a bus or something without having to have those precious I'm-scared-I'll-lose-or-damage-them cards with me at all times.
It's cool though. If you don't like it, you can just not buy it, right?
Multiplayer would be very very cool, but it may be lacking without voice capability. What makes face to face, forum, and Google+ games so enjoyable is being able to talk strategy while we play. And, also, just to talk while we play, Sentinels players being the sociable bunch that we are
I guess that the Villain and Enviro decks would be automated so the setup would either be multiple players connecting to a central server, or one player hosting a game that the others connect to - i'm not going to pretend I have the first clue as to which is better or more achievable!
I think another neat idea would be to add scalable difficulty with a menu of additional advanced modes for villains, e.g. so that you can change H-1 to H, or start Baron Blade with cards discarded into his trash. These sorts of things would be easy enough to implement in a digital format, although for sure it wouldn't be in tune with the physical game.
While I'm on your side in this, I don't think you should just dismiss his concerns. If half of the Sentinels community worldwide moved to playing on an electronic version, that would definitely affect people who aren't willing to make the switch, so no, they can't "just not buy it"…it impacts them by its very existence.
If there are still people out there who want to play the analogue version (and there will be), then it really doesn't make any difference.
I for one will absolutely still play with the real actual cards, same as I still play the physical version of Dominion despite having played thousands of games against the AI on the unofficial iPhone app. And online poker hasn't made playing cards obsolete either, and people are still buying paper books despite owning Kindles.
It was just the "I personally don't like it so I wish it wouldn't exist even though obviously a lot of people will like it" thing that I wasn't so happy about.
Right, I don't agree with that either, but such complaints are founded on feelings which deserve to be acknowledged and hopefully catered to, just in a way that serves all parties equally. It is my firm belief that, when someone asks for something obviously unreasonable, it's possible to give them something that is reasonable, which would be adequately satisfactory to them.
It turns out that many other companies who have released electronic versions of their Tabletop games have actually seen an increase in the popularity of the cardboard/tabletop version of the game due to the increased exposure from the electronic version. It is definitely my hope that that happens for Sentinels! I for one also vastly prefer the tabletop version of such games (I also prefer real books and don't own, or plan to own, an e-reader :) )
We need the new game and Sidekick to be able to interact, or a play by card option where you could input what cards you drew instead of it auto-drawing them for you.
I would prefer sidekick to work with it somehow, but I doubt that is feasible.
I really wonder how the expansions are going to work. I will buy software that lets me play sentinels with people online, but if this game involves rebuying expansions and such, I can't afford that, or I'd be stuck choosing to buy the online expansion or the cards, and if the online is cheaper then plenty are going to just get that and not pay box price (plus shipping for a lot of people) unless they play heavily with a group at home.
I used to feel that way quite strongly. I have, however, REALLY been enjoying using the Kindle app on my Android phone. My book is everywhere I am, just about. On my recent business trip I went through 3.5 novels while traveling with nothing but a small backpack. I've even figured out how to check out library books electronically.
I also prefer paper books (and own many of them) but I can't argue with the convenience and portability of my basic no-bells-and-whistles Kindle. Unexpectedly finishing a book 10 minutes into a long journey isn't a problem now because I have several hundred others available in the one device.
And putting a couple of hundred or so of my less precious physical books into storge in the loft has left me with more shelf space for board games (and let's face it, more books) which is never a bad thing.
Speaking as someone with hundreds of cubic feet of storage space occupied by physical books and games, the idea of freeing room to make things more accessible when needed is an amazing one. The convienience of not lugging piles of paper and cardboard along on our daily commutes also can't be discounted; we simply spend too much time away from our collections/libraries to rely on physical copies 100% of the time.
That being said, the physical act of sliding a freshly-shuffled deck of cards to your friend across the table or of hearing the pages ruffle open when slipping your bookmark out from between them cannot possibly be matched in any digital medium. I may opt to save my back and bring the tablet along on a long flight, but it will never be a replacement for the smell of lignin or the sound of meeple stacking atop one another once I'm back home.
